Swinnen triumphs while teammates stumble
Oregon’s Sven Swinnen continued his surge to the top of the singles rankings, defeating sixth-ranked Tobias Clemens of UCLA — 0-6, 6-4, 11-9 — on Friday and 23rd-ranked Adriano Biasella of Southern California — 6-4, 7-5 — on Saturday.
The rest of the Oregon men’s tennis team couldn’t follow suit on the upsets, falling to No. 4 UCLA, 6-1, and to No. 3 USC, 5-2.
“Both these programs are at the top of their game, and our goal was to play hard at every position from start to finish,” Oregon head coach Chris Russell said.
Swinnen’s play was the only highlight for the Ducks on Friday as they took a pounding at the hands of UCLA.
Swinnen fell behind early to UCLA’s Clemens and couldn’t convert on break-points or keep the sixth-ranked Clemens from breaking his serve in the first set, losing 6-0.
“I was up (40-15) in the first couple of games, but I couldn’t put the games away,” Swinnen said.
Swinnen came out swinging in the second set, jumping to a 3-0 lead and eventually winning the set 6-4, and he also took the tie-breaker set, 11-9, on a controversial Clemens backhand that appeared to fall wide of the line. Clemens argued Swinnen’s and the chair umpire’s call, to no avail.
“I saw it was out, Chris (Russell) saw it was out and the referee called it out so I knew it was a good call,” Swinnen said.
The Ducks lost the rest of their singles matches in straight sets and were swept in the doubles.
Oregon started strong against No. 3 USC on Saturday, but fell to Pacific-10 Conference leaders, 5-2.
Swinnen and Arron Spencer defeated USC’s Daniel Langre and Drew Hoskins, 8-5, in the No. 1 doubles position. Oregon’s Manuel Kost and Marcus Schiller almost stole the doubles point for the Ducks, but fell short and lost to Parker Collins and Johan Berg, 8-6.
Swinnen pulled off his second upset in as many days, beating No. 23 Biasella, 6-4, 7-5.
“He (Swinnen) has a clarity in his mind that allows him to see things in a match that a lot of others don’t see because they get too emotional,” Russell said.
Oregon senior Chris King was honored before the match and played his final game in Eugene on Saturday, losing his doubles match, 8-4, and his singles match, 6-0, 6-2.
— Clayton Jones
Duck women finish ninth
The Oregon women’s golf team finished the 2004 regular season with a disappointing ninth-place finish at the Peg Barnard Collegiate on Sunday. After firing an opening-round 317, the Ducks, looking to jump into the top five with a good second round, ended up carding a 314, finishing where they started.
Sophomore Michelle Timpani led the Ducks with a 78-78156, good for a 12-over-par tie for 25th. Sophomore Erin Andrews was the only other Duck to finish in the top 30, with her 77-80157. The hottest golfer of the spring, sophomore Therese Wenslow struggled to tie for 40th.
The Ducks will now look to find some of the momentum they held earlier this year as they head into next week’s Pacific-10 Championships, to be held at the Saticoy Country Club, in Somis, Calif.
Sica returns to form
It’s not that the Oregon men’s golf team did anything wrong in its 14th-place finish at the PING/ASU Invitational, held at the par-72, 7,037-yard Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz.
It’s just the fact that the other teams in the field did everything right and did it often.
“We actually played okay,” Oregon men’s coach Steve Nosler said. “But you usually see some incredibly low numbers here. I think we could have finished a little stronger today, but beating Oregon State and San Diego State should help us a bit for regionals.”
The most positive note for the Ducks was the return to solid play by senior Mike Sica. Sica posted three rounds at, or below, par and finish tied for 28th at a 3-under-par 218. It marks the first time Sica has recorded back-to-back below-par tournaments in his career.
Sophomore Justin St. Clair turned in a solid performance, finishing tied for 39th at a 1-under-par 215. It was his fourth top-40 finish in five events this spring.
— Brian Smith
